Electrical ratchet relay



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1958 Clair PK McO/arm/d 1N VEN TOR.

BY W 3% and Nov. 10, 1959 c. w. MCDXARMID 2,912,538

ELECTRICAL RATCHET RELAY Filed Jan. 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ola/r W McO/arm/d 1N VEN TOR.

WW FM ELECTRICAL RATCHET RELAY Clair W. McDiarmid, Grants Pass, Oreg. Application January 8, 1958, Serial No. 707,716

3 Claims. 01. zoo-87 This invention relates generally to electric relays, and more specifically to an electrical ratchet relay which is intendedto alternately operate two electrical circuits.

It is the principal object of this invention to providea novel structure for ratchet relays which is more reliable than the conventional type ratchet relays.

United States Paten f) It is a further object of this invention to provide a relay In accordance with the above stated objects, described below is a novel arrangement for an electrical ratchet relay utilizing a conventional solenoid coil and armature but having connected to this armature novel reciprocal means for alternately actuating two electrical circuits upon .energization of the solenoid coil. This means includes a pair of pivotally connected arms having projections on the ends thereof for cooperating with slots in an actuating bar for reciprocally sliding said barwithin a guide. The actuating bar in turn operates a suitable switch.

These, together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequentlyapparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of this invention showing the relay in its normal position;

Figure 2 is a partial front elevational view of this invention showing the relay during the upper stroke of the armature;

Figure 3 is another front elevational view of the relay showing the actuating bar in' a position opposite to that of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the relay taken substantially along the plane 44 'of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is another sectional view of this invention taken substantially along the plane 55 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is still another sectional view of this invention taken substantially along the plane 6-6 of Figure 3.

With continuing reference to the drawings, numeral 10 represents a magnetic core of a conventional solenoid coil 12 having electrical leads 14 and 16 electrically connected to the winding for supplying energy thereto. The core 10 and coil 12 are mounted on any suitable backing 18 which is preferably of an insulative material. Mounting screws 20'hold the core assembly in fixed relation with the backing 18.

The solenoid coil 12 has a slidable armature22, preferably of laminated magnetic material, passing through it. The armature 22 is mounted for longitudinal sliding movement through guide portions 24 of backing 18. It will, of course, be apparent to one skilled in the art that upon actuation or energization of the solenoid coil 12, the armature 22 being of proper construction will move up- 2,912,538 Patented Nov. 10, 1959 wardly to more efficiently complete the magnetic path through. the core 10.

Pivotally afiixed to the armature 22 at pivotal connection 26 are a pair of arms 28 and 30. Attached to the arms 28 and 30 is a tension spring 32 which urges the arms toward each other about pivotal connection 26. The arms 28 and 30 have projections 34 and 36 on the ends thereof for reciprocably sliding an actuating bar 38 between two different positions.

As is clearly shown in Figure 4, the actuating bar 38 is a composite bar sandwiching a pivot bar 40 therein. The pivot bar 40 is mounted so that it will pivot around point 42 upon proper stimulus. It is to be noted that pivot bar 42 is not of a rectangular shape, particularly in that its bottom surface is flat for only a portion of its length at its center whereas the ends of the bottom surface rise at an angle from the flat center portion. The actuatingbar 38 has slots 44 and 46 therein which cooperate with projections 34 and 36 of arms 28 and 30 respectively for slidably moving the actuating bar 38.

, A guide 48 is mounted on backing 18 forwardly of the actuating bar 38. The guide 48 is fixedly mounted on backing 18 and has a dovetail portion 50 on the back thereof for slidably accommodating the dovetail slot 52 of actuating bar 38. The upper surface 54 of actuating bar 38 has two distinct levels, as at 56 and 58, for operating switch 60 through compression member 62. Switch 60 is a conventional, commercially available switch utilizing terminal 64, for instance, as a common terminal. and 66 and 68 for normally open or closed positions. Screws 70 and 72 fixedly mount the switch 60 on backing 18.

In the operation of this relay, an electrical energy source is connected across electrical leads 16 and 14 for supplying electrical energy to solenoid coil 12. The energization of solenoid 12 will cause an upward stroke or movement of armature 22 through the coil 12 and core 10. Guide means 24 guide the armature along the straight up anddown path. The upward stroke of armature 22 causes the spreading of-pivotally connected arms 30 and 28 about pivotal connection 26, thereby acting against the urging force of spring 32. As can be seen in Figure 1, the projection 36 of arm 38 is partially inserted within slot 46 of actuating bar 38. Upon the upward stroke of armature 22, thearms 30 and 28 begin to spread, forcing projection 36 to bear against the actuating bar 38 in slot 46 to slide the bar 38 to the left. The bar, of course, slides due to the dovetail connection at 50 and 52. Figure 2 shows the armature 22 in its raised position with projection 36 bearing against bar 38 to force it to the left. The projection 36 is shown simultaneously pivoting pivot bar 40 clockwise about pivot connection 42. This action of pivot bar 40 prevents projection 34 of arm 28 from entering slot 44 of actuating bar 38. When the coil 12 becomes deenergized, the armature 22 will fall back to its lower position due to gravity, relaxing arms 39 and 28, which will then be urged toward each other by the spring 32 so that the relay will then assume the position illustrated in Figure 3. When the coil 12 is again energized, the armature 22 will be raised, again spreading the arms 30 and 28 about pivotal connection 26 so that this time projection 34 of arm 28 will bear against actuating bar 38 in slot 44 to slide the bar toward the right on dovetail connection 50 and 52. When the coil 12 is again deenergized, the relay. will again relax into the position shown in Figure l. 1

It will be apparent that this reciprocal action of actuating bar 38 will cause a like reciprocal action of compression member 62 of switch 68. Of course, the action of compression member 62 is reflected at the terminals 64, 66 and 68 for effecting the desired response in an external circuit.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact constructon and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows: I

1. An electrical ratchet relay comprising a solenoid coil, a movable armature within said coil, a pair of pivotally connected arms on said armature, a movable actuating bar having a pair of sliding sections provided with slots and a pivoted part, said arms carrying projections thereon for cooperating with said slots so that said bar sections may be reciprocally moved between two different positions for alternately actuating two electrical circuits upon successive energization of said coil, and said bar pivoted part preventing simultaneous entry of said projections into said slots.

2. An electrical ratchet relay comprising a solenoid coil, a movable armature within said coil, a pair of pivotally connected arms on said armature, spring means connected between said arms and urging said arms toward each other, a fixed guide, an actuating bar slidably disposed in said guide andmounted so as to counteract the spring urging, slots in said bar, said arms carrying projections thereon for cooperating with said slots to reciprocallyq slide said bar between two difierent positions for alternately actuating two electrical circuits upon successive energizations of said coil, and prevention means carried by said bar for preventing the simultaneous entrance of the two arm projections into their two corresponding slots.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said actuating bar is a composite bar having two slotted outer sections sandwiching a pivot bar therebetween, said prevention means including said pivot bar extending across said slots for preventing the simultaneous entrance of the 'two arm projections into their corresponding two slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lamb Nov. 6, 1951 

